


Ben and Armie’s Very Bad Day

by rudbeckia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Fluff, Armitage Hux Being An Asshole, Fluff, M/M, apologising with food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 20:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15781560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: For the prompt: “This is an apology pizza. Please take it or I will start crying right here.”Armitage is having a very stressful day. Who best to take all the frustration out on but his partner, Ben? When he realises what a total cockwomble he’s been, he needs to apologise. Will Ben accept the peace offering just so Armitage will be allowed back?





	Ben and Armie’s Very Bad Day

The bell bing-bongs and Ben shoots to his feet. He marches across the apartment and wrenches the door open. “Armitage?”  
The delivery person takes a step back and peers at a scrawl on the receipt. ”This is an apology pizza.” There’s a sigh and bored eyes meet Ben’s after a monumental eye-roll. “Please take it or I will start crying right here. He said I had to say it and he’d find out if I didn’t. It’s paid for.”  
“You’re not Armitage,” Ben observes. “What are you apologising for?”  
There’s a one-shouldered shrug. “Not me.”  
“Wait here.”  
Ben finds his wallet and offers the awkward kid a tip. 

======

It had been one of those mornings where everything seemed just a little off. Armitage woke late and blamed Ben for letting him sleep through his alarm. Ben fumbled with the coffee maker and spilt the last of the grounds everywhere. Armitage discovered that his favourite shirt was in the laundry and he was _sure_ Ben had promised to see to it yesterday. Armitage hauled his second favourite shirt from the wardrobe instead and pulled it on.

“Babe, you need to iron that,” Ben said when he saw Armitage tying his tie. Then they bickered about how the ironing had been done already but Armitage crushed too much into the small closet and maybe ought to give away some of the things he hardly wore any more. “I’ll sort through it for you while you’re out,” offered Ben. But Armitage saw that as an intrusion and snapped at Ben to keep his filthy hands off his stuff.

Ben did the best he could with the coffee but it didn’t taste right. He confessed to Armitage that he’d used grounds swept up off a surface that he’d chopped garlic on the previous evening. Armitage banged his mug down so hard that the handle cracked off and coffee spilt over Ben’s jeans. Ben pulled them off and threw them into the washer then turned to yell at Armitage. But Armitage was in the hallway with his laptop case under his arm and his travelcard between his teeth. The door thunked shut behind him.

 **you 0816** _Have a nice fucking day_  
**Huxy 0839** _You made me miss my bus_  
**you 0833** _Everything’s my fault today. Come home, get back into bed then get out of it again on the right side_  
**Huxy 0855** _Not even going to wish me luck?_  
**you 0910** _Good fucking luck_

 **Huxy 0930** _They’re keeping me waiting. Arseholes_  
**Huxy 0953** _I should walk out_  
**Huxy 1032** _If you got a proper job and kept it I wouldn’t need to be here_

 **Huxy 1157** _That was brutal. Informal meeting then inbox activity_  
**Huxy 1216** _Some candidates got sent away_  
**Huxy 1322** _Presentation next_

 **Huxy 1401** _BEN YOU FUCKER!_  
**Huxy 1402** _You used my flash drive, didn’t you? It was corrupted. Everything gone_  
**Huxy 1404** _I had to do the entire presentation with just me talking and drawing on a fucking flipchart_  
**Huxy 1407** _When I fail to get this job I’m blaming you_

 **Huxy 1530** _Still waiting for interview_

 **Huxy 1612** _They said they’ll call later. Going for a drink with one of the other candidates. Cute guy called Dopheld. Might not come home tonight_  
**Huxy 1615** _It’s not like you care since you’ve not texted me back all day_

 **you 1811** _Work called after u left. Got extra shift 10 til 6. Just got out. No meal breaks. No phones in food prep areas. No phone signal in kitchens anyway_  
**you 1817** _figured we could use the extra money_  
**you 1825** _don’t be a dick all day take the evening off_

Ben trudged from the bus stop to their building, hauled himself upstairs, let himself in then sank onto the sofa, head in hands, phone discarded on the seat beside him. Maybe, he reflected, it was all his fault. Maybe if he didn’t keep getting fired for telling a succession of bosses what he thought of them he’d have a better job than fill-in agency work. He sat back, aware that he smelled of grease and onions, yet unable to face getting in the shower. The longer he sat, the angrier he got. Armitage had no right. Armitage thought he was above him. Armitage could go fuck this _Dopheld_ and move out. Armitage could... Armitage could... _leave._

 **you 1845** _fine don’t come home does dopheld know you’re a bitch?_

The shower was the best place to cry.

======

Ben carries the pizza back to the sofa and opens the box. It’s his favourite and the smell of the spicy pepperoni and melted cheese makes him salivate. He takes a slice and bites off the point, closing his eyes as he chews and swallows. The slice is gone in under a minute. As he picks up the second slice with his right hand, he reaches for his phone with his left.

 **you 1955** _Come and have pizza with me._

Ben looks round when he hears the door creak open and thunk closed. He can’t call out because the fourth slice is stuffed in his mouth.  
“Ben?”  
“‘n eah!” Ben chews faster and swallows. “In here!”  
Armitage pokes his head into the room then walks in. He pauses, wary. “We okay?”  
Ben nods and holds out the pizza box. Armitage smiles, takes a slice, bites into it and sits down. He speaks after he swallows.  
“Sorry.”  
Ben points at him with the crescent-shaped crust of his fifth slice. “I’m still pissed at you.”  
Armitage finishes his slice and reaches for another at the same time as Ben. They both target the same one and there’s a moment where they both lift, both pull, but the crust holds firm. Ben giggles and moves his face in to take a bite. Armitage laughs and does the same. When their lips meet, the remains of the slice fall back onto the box.

Armitage tastes of pepperoni and cheese and oregano, but not of beer or wine or sickly cocktails. Ben puts oily, paprika coloured finger-smears onto Armitage’s pale shirt and Armitage shoves him off.  
“You ruined my shirt!”  
Ben beckons Armitage closer. “Here, I can fix it.” Armitage looks skeptical but sits closer and exposes the stained area. Ben ignores it and rips the shirt open, sending buttons pinging off to plink against polished floorboards. Armitage is thunderstruck, but Ben grins and shrugs. “Looks better like that. It was ruined anyway. I can afford to buy you another.”

“I really am sorry about today,” Armitage says as he takes the last slice and offers Ben the pointy bit. “I hate interviews. They’re so fake. I got ‘where do you see yourself in five years’ and ‘if you were a wild animal, which one would you be and why?’ Pathetic.”  
Ben smiles and nods. “Board member and wolf, right? Predatory teamworker. Deadly collaborator. Leader of the pa—”  
“Oh do shut up, Ben. I doubt it’s worth me clutching my phone in case they call.” Hux sighs and flops back against the sofa. “That guy Doph will get it. His uncle knows the CEO. Really I just want to pretend today didn’t happen.” He looks beseechingly at Ben. “Can we do that?”  
“Please,” Ben says. “Let’s just go to bed.”

Armitage smiles, nods and kisses Ben. They abandon the remains of the pizza and both their phones and head, hand in greasy hand, to the bedroom. 

Twelve minutes later, Armitage streaks nude from the bedroom back into the living room and snatches up his phone.  
“Hello, this is Hux,” he says. “Oh! Director Sloane. Yes. Monday?”


End file.
